


Water Under the Bridge

by deadcourf



Category: The Bright Sessions (Podcast)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 06:22:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9372131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadcourf/pseuds/deadcourf
Summary: A short narrative of Caleb and Adam's first few months together -- and how each other them learn to open themselves up to the concept of love.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is not beta'd so bear with me (and if someone would like to beta, let me know!)
> 
> also, the title is an adele song featured on the first mixtape adam made for caleb, which you can find [here](http://8tracks.com/thebrightsessions/music-for-your-football-brain).

The ~~First~~ Second Encounter

He’s been replaying the same moment over and over for the past week. It’s like it’s burned into his brain, or something, because every time he closes his eyes it feels like he’s there. He’s there in that classroom, standing by that particular desk in the corner, his eyes downcast and his heart racing.

Caleb closes his eyes now and takes himself back to Tuesday afternoon.

The light pooling into the room settled in a funny way on the desk. From what Caleb could sense, it made everyone’s heart lighter. The room calmed down enough for him to single out his emotions among the rest. Those emotions -- _his_ emotions -- were still vague and flimsy, like he were looking at them through warped glass, but they were there.

With one hand gripping the strap that curled around his shoulder, he maneuvered through the small crowd by the window. He nodded to a few of the kids in the cluster, clapped a hand on a back or two. Once he reached the corner seat, the one he had claimed months ago, an unfamiliar sensation washed over him.

Actually, no, it was more of a wash. It was like a wave had hit him head on. He stumbled backwards, his bag slipping to the floor with a distant thump. He blinked, hard, and scanned the room for whatever the source was for that… _crash_ of an emotion. He had never felt anything like that before and, to be quite honest, it was incredible. Regardless if it was something ugly or dark or so dismally gray -- and it was becoming clear that it was exactly _that_ \-- he had to know where it was coming from.

Or, rather, _who_ it was coming from.

“Caleb? Would you like to sit down?”

Mr. Collins’ voice dragged Caleb back to the present (“Yeah, s-sorry, Mr. Collins. I’ll just… yeah, I’ll sit down.”), but not before he caught a glimpse of the boy sitting in the corner seat at the other side of the room.

A boy with his dark gray hoodie pulled tight over his eyes; with one nail painted black, chipped around the edges; with shoes untied and jeans loose around the ankles; with a clouded fog resting just upon his shoulders.

As Caleb sat down, he couldn’t keep his eyes off that boy because, despite the gray and the cloud and the downright moodiness that ebbed and flowed from the boy’s emotions, there was no doubt about the color he gave off.

A bright, shimmering, breathtaking gold.

Now it’s Monday afternoon. Same class, same soft golden light falling onto the desks, and Caleb now stands in front of the desk where the boy normally sits. Adam, he corrects himself. The boy’s name is Adam and apparently they’ve been going to school together for years. Caleb wonders why he’s never noticed that… magnetic _pull_ from Adam before. It’s not really like anything else he’s felt from the other classmates he’s known for years. Those emotions are like, draining, and stuff. They don’t grab his attention, but rather cloud it.

With others it’s like their emotions are shoving a bag over his head; with Adam, the bag doesn’t even exist.

The clarity he feels around Adam isn’t enough for him to completely overlook the emotions and colors he sees in the other boy. There’s still a lot of gray and a lot of sadness, one so deep and dark that it scares Caleb. What could Adam possibly have in his life that makes him this sad? And, more importantly, how can Caleb make that sadness disappear?

His thoughts are interrupted by Adam entering the classroom. Although no one else in the room bothers to acknowledge his presence, a hush falls over them. Adam raises his head to meet Caleb’s eyes. The two keep a steady gaze between them long enough to raise the hair on the back of Caleb’s neck.

Eventually Adam breaks eye contact so as not to draw attention to the pair of them. Keeping his chin low to avoid any possible looks coming from his classmates, he shuffles to the back of the room where Caleb waits for him. As he reaches the desk, Caleb feels his palms begin to clam up.

“Um, hi,” Caleb says, so adorably nervous that he can barely speak. Or at least that’s what he senses coming from Adam -- that Caleb being nervous is adorable, in one way or another.

Adam drops his bag to the floor. When he looks up at Caleb, his expression is neutral, guarded.

“Hi.”

“Adam, right?”

“Yeah. And you’re--”

“Caleb. Caleb Michaels.”

“Adam Hayes.”

They exchange a pretty awkward handshake, one that makes Caleb cringe inwardly. He doesn’t want this to be awkward. In fact, he wants this to go as smoothly as possible. If only he can control the weird lightweight sensation currently in his stomach, maybe this has the chance of going as he planned.

He realizes too late that he took too long to follow up his introduction when Adam raises a brow in question.

“Can I… help you with anything?”

“Um, kind of? You see, the thing is… I was thinking that maybe, if you want, of course, like, don’t feel like you need to say yes or anything? Although you don’t really know what you’re saying yes to yet… anyway, what I had in mind was--”

Adam laughs, a sound so quiet and soft that it stops Caleb mid-sentence. “Can you just spit it out already?”

Sensing the complete lack of malintent in Adam’s laughter, Caleb nearly cracks a smile. What holds him back is the warmth that creeps up his arms and back and settles into his cheeks: an emotion he can’t tell if it’s his or Adam’s. His lips relax into a loose line and he bows his head.

“Do you want to get coffee this weekend? Or something? Like, it’s okay if you don’t,” Caleb tries to laugh away the nerves. “I know this is kind of… out of the blue. And that we didn’t really hit it off too well the last time…”

“Caleb,” Adam, thankfully, stops him from rambling on any longer. “Coffee sounds pretty good to me.”

There are no words in the English dictionary to describe how much of a relief it is for Caleb to hear Adam say that and to feel the corresponding light-hearted emotion that followed.

**Author's Note:**

> i um love the bright sessions and caleb/adam A LOT so i decided to write this because it made my heart happy :'> hope you enjoy!!!
> 
> catch me hanging out on [tumblr](http://softegrantaire.tumblr.com).


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